Angelwings
by oh.holy.martel
Summary: Anna's Exsphere, actually useful for once, grew her wings to save her from the cliff. Now Kratos is missing, thinks she's dead, and she's going after him. Lloyd is safe with Dirk. Kratos is joining the Renegades. And who knows about Tethe'alla? AU.Kranna


Life was painful. Anna knew that. She'd lived at a human ranch for more years than she'd lived free. She'd been in the examination room when the filthy Desian doctor said she had the most appropriate mana signature for the special … _experiment, _and certainly had enough spirit for it. She'd been there when they stuck the stupid thing into her arm, and she'd felt it start pulsing, almost a physical thing as apparently it fed on her. Everything she did and thought and said. Anna had wanted to become lifeless like the other people there, fight them by not giving them what they wanted.

But she'd failed. Because she'd seen Kratos, and … it was her first time in love. It was true, what they said, about it. He made her feel worthy. And so when he said to run away … she did.

Before she found out she was pregnant. And had a child. And stood at the ends of the earth with Kratos, who could fight most of them but not take them all, no matter how strong he was.

The one he was missing was someone she knew, the man who had killed her family and taken her from her city. Kvar. His face was grim but triumphant, and his shining blonde hair was disheveled from the chase. He wasn't looking at Kratos or Lloyd or even her, the people whose lives he was going to ruin, just at his stupid Exsphere. Anna wished he could just _take _it. It didn't matter if he took her, too, if Kratos got away with Lloyd. But he'd refused, and now …

The end of the cliff. Lloyd was awake now, looking up for her, hand stretching out of the blanket in an attempt to stretch. Kvar grinned more widely, raising a hand. She'd had enough one-on-one sessions with him to know that he didn't have to be close to people to hurt them, the filthy magic user. She dove off the cliff. It was a long way down. No matter what she did, Lloyd was going to be crushed.

If only … Kratos had showed her his wings once. If only this was him. But _her _Exsphere did nothing but suck her life. Stupid thing.

As if listening to her, it flared brightly. Noishe stood at the cliff, whimpering, while, suddenly, unaccountably, she slowed. Time stretched.

_Come on … you stupid thing … Lloyd and I will NOT fall and just wait there dead while they overpower Kratos and Kvar makes his way down the cliff to steal you … _

It flared to life. Maybe it didn't wan to get stolen? Anna had little time to wonder, because then her vision seared black for a second as her back exploded in a rippling arc and she shuddered as suddenly she'd swooped, still going, not falling, as her blood spattered to the far-away ground. Lloyd shrieked in delight. What – Kratos's were his mana – she hadn't meant actual _wings? _

Anna swerved around, close enough to see the scene on the cliff. She had to get Lloyd to safety, she knew that, but Kratos and Noishe … they had to escape, now, that there was nothing to fight for.

"Kratos! Come on!"

He spared a glance for her, even now, getting a cut on the shoulder for his trouble as his eyes widened. What – she was too _human _for him or something? Couldn't rescue herself? Anna tried to brush away the qualities that made her so perfect for the stupid Angelus Project as she came back near enough to hear him, seeing Noishe stand at the edge of the cliff and bark as loudly as if it was a stranger preparing to carry Lloyd away.

Kvar stepped forward, his just-smirking face a mask of fury and, of course, shock, that the inferior subject could have actually _used _the cultivated Exsphere – _how's that for one, Kvar? Wait, supposed to be curving those tendencies – _until, snarling, he reached his hand out again and lightning flashed from the sky. Anna shrieked and dove, twisting into a roll in time to see it scorch a tree three feet in front of her. She had no idea where the next would come from so she couldn't dodge, which meant she had to get out of here. But Kratos …

"Anna!" He shouted, cleaving down one of the two Desians that still surrounded him. "Anna, you and Lloyd get out of here! Noishe, follow them! I'll – "

Suddenly, someone teleported there, grabbing onto him, and he disappeared in a flash of light. The two Desians were stunned. Noishe let out a wail, heartbroken. And Kvar – Kvar let loose another bolt of lightning. She shrieked and tried to spin away from it, but since she had been watching Kratos, it clipped the very end of her left wing – her pinfeathers.

Anna tried to steer as she dropped, flying further while Kvar could still see her to lead him off trail before circling back as she dropped ever lower, knowing that something had happened to Kratos but at least Noishe would be able to sense her if she came back close enough to the foot of the cliff, and Kratos would come to find him at least. Who had taken him?

She landed roughly, skidding on her toes and flapping with both wings in an effort not to land face forward and crush Lloyd, twisting on her side. Ow. She didn't quite think she could get up. Lloyd whimpered, and she loosened her grip a little. He'd been through a lot in the past hour.

There was rustling in the bushes. A dark form loomed out of them, smaller than one of the Desians and carrying a lantern. He shone it on them, revealing his own face in the process, which showed he was a dwarf. Anna had never seen one. He peered down at her and Lloyd, focusing on her back rather than her Exsphere, unlike most people. Oh, wait – her wings. She'd almost forgotten them for a second. The burn wound on the left tip pulsed like almost a physical thing, like her Exsphere, and she knew that it was going to take something out of _her _to heal it. Dwarf or no, he could help Lloyd now … if she could only tell him …

"What in the name of tarnation?" he muttered. "Are … what the …"

"Here," Anna gasped, choking on darkness as she thrust Lloyd out. "His name is … Lloyd. Please take him. I … his father …" The wings were burning. So was her wrist. Kratos … Noishe … Kvar, that bastar – _pain … _"Please …"

He took him, gingerly, and Anna slumped back. He might have said something, might have burst into song for all she could hear, but whatever. Kratos had disappeared. But Lloyd was safe.

And she … she had wings.

And a damnable Exsphere that was responsible for making the darkness of the forest morph into unconsciousness.

--

"Ow … Kratos … you bastard …" Anna sat up. Sunlight hit her eyes, and she groaned. This was not the human ranch. Or the bedroll she shared with Kratos. This was … a bed.

And her wings were chafing at the hard surfaces and the terrible stretching room.

Wait … _wings? _

She glanced down, and her Exsphere gave a happy little pulse, as if pleased to be noticed. But wait … since when had it had a key crest? Kratos had wanted to get her one, since it wasn't safe without it, but they were only made by dwarves …

Well, that made sense, considering that was what she could have sworn the person who found her was. Assuming this was his house and not a delusion or a new scenario for the growth of her Exsphere, this probably meant Lloyd was safe as well. But it was always best to make sure. And her wings could really use a stretch.

It was going to take a little while to get used to _that _line …

She left the room, at the top of the stairs, and made her way down them. The main floor look like a shop, with a bed away from the blacksmithing supplies and a new-looking wooden crib next to it. Apparently she'd lucked out on the surrogate-caretaker lottery. There was no one in the house, so Anna pushed the door open after a little cursory snooping over the materials and finished products. Hey, she'd spent over half her life with Desians. She had a right to be wary around someone who knew enough to make a key crest.

Anna stepped outside. The same rough voice that had exclaimed in surprise upon seeing her wings was saying things over and over, stuff like "Lying is the first step down the path to thievery, number eleven," and whatnot, and Lloyd's happy gurgles followed them. She hadn't heard him that happy in a while. She fluttered her wings to stretch them out as they strained in the air, walking into view. Lloyd saw her over the dwarf's head and waved to her, making a shuffing sound. Noishe's ears perked up and he ran to her, knocking her over and licking her face until she shrieked that he was bending her poor wings. After that he jumped off. The dwarf had made his way over by then, and Lloyd reached out from his arms until he let her take him, almost reluctantly. Anna barely noticed. Her baby boy was back, and marvelously healthy-looking, too. And so radiant!

"Mommy's missed you, Lloyd, sweetie," she crooned. "Have you been a good boy for Mister … um, uh … I'm so sorry. I passed out on you, you took care of my son, gave me your bed, and I haven't introduced myself or learned your name. I'm Anna, and this, of course, is my son Lloyd. Thank you so much for taking us in. What's your name, sir … ?"

"Ah, there's no 'mister' or 'sir' to it," he muttered sheepishly, scratching his head. "Just Dirk, the dwarf. That's a fine young'un you have, even if his mother has wings and fell from the sky and came from the human ranch. I hope you don't mind I made you a key crest, Mrs. Anna. Those Exspheres aren't real safe without 'em."

"No, I'm terribly grateful for it," she replied, blinking. "Please call me Anna. And I didn't come from this human ranch. My husband and I have been running for a while, but we were found last night, by the people who were hunting us. I didn't have wings before then, actually, which may have explained why Kvar's lightning hit me and I fell. They just sort of … sprouted, while I was falling. I was just so worried about whether Lloyd would survive the fall …"

"Well, I'm glad 'ee did," Dirk said gruffly, touching one of Lloyd's hands as he stretched up out of Anna's arms and reached for him. "Beggin' your pardon, Mrs. Anna. I'm assuming the dog is yours, since Lloyd and you know him right well, though he's a strange one, I reckon. He and you both can stay here for as long as you'd like, assuming you think you'd be safe here. But, if you don' mind me askin', what happened to your husban'? Was he with you when you both wer caught?"

"Yes, actually. And call me Anna." Anna winced at the memory. Kratos … She shook her head. "He was fighting some of them, I turned around to watch after I fell off the cliff. He had beaten all but the last one of his enemies when someone appeared, grabbed on to him, and vanished. His Exsphere's far more advanced than mine, which hasn't done anything for me until last night. He calls it a Cruxis Crystal, and apparently they let humans use magic and have other things like wings and teleportation, and he told me there were two others who had them, even though they were half-elves, so I'm guessing it was one of them. I'm afraid I don't know what's happened to him."

"Well, that's understandable," Dirk reasoned, taking Lloyd from her and giving him a finger to bat around while he comforted her. "You've been asleep for three days repairing those wings of yers, and he's probably fine, anyway, if someone went through all the trouble of gettin' to him before the others did. I'm sure he'll find you. In the meantime, I'm sure you need a bite ta' eat, and it's Lloyd here's lunchtime. We could finally find a few scraps around here for that dog of yers, too. What did ye say his name was, again?"

"I didn't," Anna said past the lump in her throat, remembering that some things had to be taken care of before Kratos, albeit grudgingly, and that after all he was an angel. "It's Noishe. He's my husband's. And I feel terrible for imposing on you like this. I'm sure we're keeping you from your work. At least I can watch Lloyd, now, so he won't disturb you unless you're playing with him."

"He's no bother, really," Dirk told her, smiling a bit as Lloyd reached up and grabbed ahold of his beard, "just a frisky little tyke. Your husband wouldn't want you to starve or mope a'cos o' him, anyway, I'm sure. Now let's go get you all something to eat."

"Thank you," Anna said, swallowing her tears and smiling, even weakly. Inhuman didn't always mean bad, she should have remembered. Every species had its kindness.

--

Kratos was a long way from feeling kindness of any sort as he glared at Yuan from where he was forcibly restrained. "Take me back to Anna and my son!" he raged, straining against the bonds and fighting his instincts NOT to cast something very painful and possibly life-threatening on his oldest friend. "I mean it, Yuan! You have no right to keep me here! Kvar could be taking the Angelus Project from her any second, and I need to care for my son!"

"Relax," Yuan said coolly, remaining unaffected from his struggle. "He couldn't be doing it right this second, because they fell off a cliff and Yggdrasill called him off. Your wife and your son are already dead, Kratos. There's nothing to go back to. What remains to be dealt with now is what will happened with Yggdrasill. You did desert him and run away with his Angelus Project."

"Anna … Lloyd …" he whispered, barely hearing the rest of what Yuan was saying. How could he, when they were dead? His wife. His child. Kvar had killed them. He could have sword he'd heard her cry out. And then Kvar had sent his lightning … Noishe would have nothing to look after, then. He didn't even know where their bodies had fallen, because Yuan had teleported him away.

It was better that way, actually. At least that way Kvar wouldn't get that damnable Exsphere that had started all the trouble.

"Kratos!" Yuan slapped him across the face. "Listen to me. Mithos won't take this lightly, especially from you, his old master. You know that. They're dead, and they wouldn't want you to be the same. We need to plan."

"What's the point?" Kratos muttered blackly, the ache in his chest so intense it could have sucked the whole world into it and not been filled quickly turning into something much more purposeful, what would give him the most satisfaction humanly possible now. "The Angelus Project was his fault. I'll kill him after I kill Kvar for what he's done."

"Kratos!" Another slap. Exactly like Anna in a temper. Though Anna was dead now. She would have slapped him and told him to stop moping like an old woman, and go out with Noishe and for Martel's sake go out and get her and Lloyd something to eat. They were both dead. What was Yuan saying again.

He looked up, straight into his friend's glaring face. Yuan had his hand poised threateningly. "Don't make me slap you again, Kratos! Listen to me! Alone, you can't kill Mithos. I can't kill him either. He's grown to powerful for the both of us since Martel's death, so powerful we can't dare contest his schemes out in the open. But I've started a secret organization that's working to offset his plans and overthrow him, and for now that means acting like we support him out in the open. I need you to help me, Kratos, because even when we catch Mithos off guard, I can't take him alone. Are you with me?"

"Do I get to kill Kvar?" Kratos muttered sulkily. "That's my dealbreaker. Anna and Lloyd would still be alive if not for him."

"After we kill Mithos, yes." Yuan leaned back, cape fanning about him. Martel had always teased him about it. "So, are you in?"

Kratos considered grimly. "Yes. Now untie me."

Yuan came over to him, working at the ropes. He grimaced. "Brace yourself. It's time to grovel to your former apprentice."

"I hate my life."

"Sucks that we're immortal, doesn't it?"

"I also hate you."

--

"I hate to ask you this, Dirk, but do you think you could watch Lloyd if I went after Kratos?" Anna asked over dinner. The dwarf nearly choked on his bite of stew. Unsurprising, considering the wonderful afternoon it had been. So peaceful. She could already tell Dirk loved Lloyd, and the feeling looked mutual. He'd be safe here. Safe and happy. The only heart breaking would be hers.

"I'd be happy to watch Lloyd, you know that," Dirk mumbled, swallowing, "but … don't ya think … are ya sure ya can find him? Wouldn't he find you?"

"Well, if he does, you can tell him where I am," Anna answered composedly. "I'll leave Noishe here to tell him. There's no telling whether he even knows we're alive or not, so he might not search. Or the person who took him could be keeping him prisoner, or have brainwashed him. The possibilities are endless. I have to go. I feel terrible about asking this of you so soon."

"No, not at all," Dirk said gruffly, throat hitching. "That is … I'd love ter. I've always wanted a child, but, y'see, there aren't many dwarves around anymore, so … Lloyd's a great kid. I swear I'll look after him. I'll get you some provisions and a cloak, then, if that's the way you feel. You'll need it to hide your wings."

"Drat," Anna said as she glanced at her back, still half surprised. "I forgot about them again. No wonder I was feeling cramped. I guess I'll do most of my traveling off of the main roads. At least I can fly, then, which should cut down on the time. I'll check by the human ranches first. Not this one, though. There's no reason he'd be here, and I wouldn't want to endanger you or Lloyd or the village here."

"That's pro'lly for the best." Dirk stood up, busying himself with readying some supplies from her. Lloyd started to whine, and so she picked him up, shifting him from shoulder to shoulder. Her baby. But he deserved to have his father, too, and a mother who wasn't a coward. "We'll be here, whenever you get back. I'll keep Lloyd safe and raise him right. Ah, here we go." Dirk raised a short, blackish sword, which even Anna could tell had superb balance. It looked less elegant than Kratos's flamberg, but already she liked it better. He brought out a dagger, too, and a cooking knife. He cleared his throat. "Take these. It's always best to be prepared for danger and the road, and I have plenty of 'em."

Anna felt her heart swell. He was truly too kind. She could leave Lloyd with no one better, and here he'd be much safer than with her, with her wings and her quest and her Angelus Project Exsphere. Really, she was doing the right thing, getting away from him. "Thank you so much."

"It's nothing. I love the little fella." Dirk handed the pack and the weapon to her, the other things all already inside. She had nothing from her running except the clothes on her back and the Exsphere. "Are you goin' to be leavin' tonight? It's dark, and you've only been awake awhile."

"I think I should," Anna said tightly, knowing that if she woke up tomorrow and saw Lloyd she'd be stuck to him for the end of her days. "It'd be better if I flew at night, anyway. I can sleep during the day somewhere deserted. Thank you again for everything. Thank you so much for taking care of Lloyd."

"It's fine," he muttered, taking her baby from her arms and cradling him snugly. Lloyd blinked up at him sleepily and closed his eyes. Anna felt her heart break the way it had when Kratos had disappeared and closed her eyes. This was best for both of her men. She was going to do it. "Are you sure about this?"

"I am." She nodded. "Thank you again. Goodbye. If I don't come back before Lloyd wants to know about his real mother and father … tell him I went to look for him, and I left him here to keep him safe. Tell him his father's name was Kratos Aurion and mine was Anna. And tell him that we both loved him." She swallowed hard. "More than anything in the world."

"Goodbye, then, Mrs. Anna."

"It's just Anna."

She went out the door, wings flapping in the wind and straining to take to the sky with a strange exultation she shouldn't be allowed to feel with Kratos missing and Lloyd being left behind, also reminding her that she certainly wouldn't be able to carry her pack on her back. Noishe was waiting outside, tied up to a tree. He whined when he saw her. "Bye, Noishe," Anna whispered. "I have to go look for Kratos. Look after Lloyd for me, will you, please?"

He whined again, jerking his head more emphatically. The rope broke away from the tree. _No you're not, _his eyes seemed to say, staring at her accusingly. _I'm coming after you. Master said to keep you safe. _

"And Lloyd," she reminded him sternly, pointing to her wings. "Unless you can fly, you can't keep up with these. And I have to go fast, at night no less. You can't come."

Noishe pawed at the ground this time. Well, he _was _fast … and that would solve the carrying-her-pack problem …

Anna sighed. "Fine," she told him, using the broken rope to fasten her pack to his back. "Come if you want. But keep up. At least you can help me find Kratos."

He nodded seriously, waiting for her signal to start running. Anna tensed and eyed the sky. Now that it came to it, she wasn't sure how to launch herself … how did one get off the ground while flying? It seemed impossible that these delicate flapping white things' beats could just carry her into the air. But they had, so …

She eyed the forest ahead of her grimly. Maybe a little running start. Anna backed up to the other side of the clearing, looking at Noishe. "Okay, this is it. Time to get off the ground." He whined in assent.

And then she was running, past Dirk's cottage so fast she was nearly flying, and then she was, spiraling higher and higher into the night and glorying in it. Noishe ran under her, swifter than she had ever known he could, but not as fast as she could have if she wanted to. It left her plenty of time for circling, for seeing, for glancing back at where Lloyd lay safe. Lovely. She sped on.

_Here I come, Kratos. And you BETTER have been looking for us._


End file.
